Irrigation Workshops Aim to Make Water Pay

News Release
July 01, 2011
Irrigation Workshops Aim to Make Water Pay

Two free irrigation workshops are being held in Hawke’s Bay next week [on Wednesday 6 July] to expand local irrigators’ knowledge of irrigation scheduling and efficiency.

Scheduling irrigation is one of the increasingly important decisions that irrigators need to make on a regular basis. Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has supported Irrigation NZ in the development of the programme for Hawke’s Bay irrigators.

There will be two workshops on Wednesday July 6 -
- The morning workshop in Ongaonga, Central Hawke’s Bay will focus on cropping, pasture, and arable/vegetable production.
- The afternoon workshop in Hastings will be aimed at orchardist and viticulturists.

Other regionally specific issues will also be covered at each workshop. People can register by emailing waterevents@hbrc.govt.nz or Sally 06 833 8075.

Irrigation NZ has been running these workshops since 2009 when the first 3 workshops were held. Last year more than 300 irrigators attended a larger number of workshops and this year 22 workshops have been scheduled in locations from Gore to Kerikeri.

The workshops take a hands-on approach to determine soil water storage. Regional climate data and crop water requirements will also be discussed. The backbone of the workshop covers tools for starting and stopping irrigation including ‘making sense of soil moisture sensor data’. Consideration for the use of irrigation scheduling calculators will also be covered with the FAR AquaTrac and Crop IR Log looked at in more detail.

Agmardt has partnered with IrrigationNZ to deliver the workshops nationally since the Making Irrigation Pay programme was initiated three years ago. Sponsor partnerships with Fonterra, DairyNZ and the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) have made it possible to run the pasture, arable and vegetable specific workshops, while the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund (SFF), Zespri and Sustainable Winegrowing NZ (SWNZ) have assisted with sponsoring the orchard and vineyard workshops.

Scheduling and benchmarking for irrigation performance
Hawke’s Bay Workshop Details
Wednesday 6 July 2011
9.00am – 12 noon
Ongonga Golf Club, 1647 Highway 50,
Ongonga, Central Hawke’s Bay.
Focus: cropping, pasture, and arable/vegetable production
1.30pm – 4.30pm
The Green Shed, 21 Ruahapia Road,
Hastings, Hawke’s Bay.
Focus: orchard and vineyard production
Information and the full programme for the Hawke’s Bay workshops can be found at www.irrigationnz.co.nz http://www.irrigationnz.co.nz/events/making-irrigation-pay/
Workshop dates and venues and the full programme for the workshops throughout NZ can be found at www.irrigationnz.co.nz and http://www.irrigationnz.co.nz/events/making-irrigation-pay/

ENDS

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